Video – 4wd Buggy A-main Leg 3

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhzHJAPD8JA[/youtube]

Neumann caps off EOS with win #10

Joern Neumann has capped off the third season of the Euro Offroad Series with the overall win in Austria, a result that brings the Team Durango tally of 4WD Buggy victories in the championship to 10.  Having sewn up his third consecutive championship title in A2, the German would go on to win the closing race of the Modelbau Wels Hobby Show event to take victory at the season finale ahead of Top Qualifier Naoto Matsukura with young star and Durango team-mate Michal Orlowski completing the podium.

Going into A3, three drivers where in the hunt for the overall win but off the start Martin Bayer back flipped his Xray dropping him down the field leaving Matsukura and Neumann to battle it out.   One of his strongest sections of the track for the 1:12 World Champion, on lap 6 it would be the undoing of his quest for a first 4WD win.  Clipping the track piping through the high speed chicane this would let Neumann through to the front where he would stay for the rest of the 5-minute encounter.

Commenting on his win Neumann was very happy to claim his 10th win from 11 races adding he couldn’t have asked for a better finish to the championship.  On the race he said both himself & Matsukura had a very similar pace but his rival took more risks which would play into his hands.  Once ahead of the Vice-World Champion he said he knew the gap on such a track was too much to make back and said even if he had of caught him just keeping to his lines would have kept the Yokomo behind him.  Having lost his 100% winning record at the Hudy Arena where Bayer took the win from the TQ position, Neumann pointed out that he is the first driver who was not the Top Qualifier to win 4WD at the EOS.

Matsukura said it was a little frustrating to make such a mistake at his favourite part of the track but finishing 3rd overall in the championship he was happy with his first full season.  Having won the 2WD title yesterday, the first driver other than Neumann to hold an EOS Buggy title, he declared he would do the double.  Setting the fastest lap of the event in the third A-Main as he tried to reel back in Neumann, he said his buggies this weekend were really good thanks to good team support.  A driver who races many different categories and this being a World Championship year for both electric touring car and 1:12, he said he doesn’t get to test offroad much and because of this Shin Adachi is a huge help as he can test and relate that knowledge back to his car.  He also said having Lee Martin in the team this season has been a good for the team.

Finishing runner up in the championship, Bayer said the win today wasn’t to be.  Going ‘too hard off the line’ he said once he lost position it was way too hard to regain the ground lost.  His first full EOS campaign, he said he was pleased to have been able to push the World Championship Top Qualifier so hard for the championship.  Still the only driver to beat Neumann the Czech ace vowed for next season to get him for the title.

4WD Buggy A-Main Overall Result
1. Joern Neumann (DE) – Durango – 2 pts
2. Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – 3
3. Michal Orlowski (PL) – Durango – 5
4. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Xray – 6
5. Hupo Hoingl (AT) – Team C – 10
6. Lee Martin (GB) – Yokomo – 11
7. Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 12
8. Martin Wollanka (AT) – Xray – 13
9. Carson Wernimont (US) – Schumacher – 15
10.Oliver Scholz (DE) – Team C – 18

4WD Buggy A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(2) Joern Neumann (DE) – Durango – 16/5:12.898
2.(1) Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – 16/5:15.567
3.(5) Michal Orlowski (PL) – Durango – 16/5:19.083
4.(6) Lee Martin (GB) – Yokomo – 16/5:21.530
5.(3) Martin Bayer (CZ) – Xray – 15/5:02.728
6.(4) Hupo Hoingl (AT) – Team C – 15/5:04.414
7.(10)Martin Wollanka (AT) – Xray – 15/5:06.679
8.(7) Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 15/5:11.156
9.(8) Oliver Scholz (DE) – Team C – 14/5:03.085
10.(9)Carson Wernimont (US) – Schumacher – 6/2:01.177

4WD Buggy Overall Championship Standings (Top 10)
1. Joern Neumann – Durango – 468 pts
2. Martin Bayer – Xray – 462
3. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo – 458
4. Lee Martin – Yokomo – 452
5. Hupo Hoingl – Team C – 452
6. Renaid Savoya – Xray – 447
7. Michal Orlowski – Durango – 442
8. David Ronnefalk – Kyosho – 442
9. Ronald Volker – Yokomo – 434
10.Oskar Levin – Team C – 430

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Video – 4wd Buggy A-main Leg 2

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrMGXR9-eO4[/youtube]

Neumann retains EOS title, Matsukura win A2

Joern Neumann has retained his Euro Offroad Series 4WD Buggy title, the outcome of the second leg of the A-Main in Wels, Austria, making the Team Durango driver unbeatable in the points standings.  Having messed up on the opening lap of A1, Top Qualifier Naoto Matsukura made amends with a near faultless win over Martin Bayer with Neumann third.  While the overall win will be decided in A3 between Matsukura, Bayer and Neumann, Nuemann’s third in A2 means the worst result he can claim this evening is third and even if his only title challenger does record his second win of the season Neumann takes the win on tie break thanks to one of his TQ’s in the opening two races of the season.

What has been his toughest EOS campaign to date, the arrival of the Xray team and Bayer to the championship raising the level of competition,  Neumann was relieved to finally complete three in a row having sewn up the championship battle a round early in the previous two seasons.  After a dominant win in A1 it was Neumann’s turn to have a bad opening lap.  Coming onto the straight for the first time the German’s view was blocked by a marshal running to retrieve a car at the back of the field and having to guess when to turn in did so too early and hit the piping.  Dropping him to fifth he would recover to battle it out for second with Bayer setting the fastest lap of the race in the process.  Enjoying a good fight with his rival who ended his run for three 4WD European Championship titles in a row, the pair putting on a drag race down the main straight, Neumann said letting off after making contact with the Xray there was no way to make back up the time adding their pace was so closely matched.  Having been doing the maths in his head all weekend, with his head now cleared of such worries he said he wants to cap of the season with his 10th 4WD EOS win.

Matsukura was much happier with his own performance second time round describing it as a ‘good clean race’.  Making a better start he said he just had ‘just one little mistake’ almost parking his B-Max 4 up on a corner marker.  Never a winner in 4WD, the 20-year-old said the plan for the deciding leg is to repeat the A2 race adding that his car is good enough and hopefully the driver is too.

‘A solid race’, that was how Bayer summed up the race after his frustrating A1 encounter.   The Czech ace said with the Top 3 so tight on pace just a small mistake is really hard to recover from but he was pleased to hold off Neumann.  Asked about his chances of claiming a second overall win of the season, he said with it so close anything could happy so it just a case of ‘wait & see what happens’.

4WD Buggy A-Main Leg 2 Result
1.(1) Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – 16/5:13.202
2.(3) Martin Bayer (CZ) – Xray – 16/5:16.679
3.(2) Joern Neumann (DE) – Durango – 16/5:16.884
4.(4) Hupo Hoingl (AT) – Team C – 15/5:00.414
5.(5) Michal Orlowski (PL) – Durango – 15/5:00.574
6.(10)Martin Wollanka (AT) – Xray – 15/5:01.595
7.(7) Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 15/5:04.214
8.(6) Lee Martin (GB) – Yokomo – 15/5:04.442
9.(9) Carson Wernimont (US) – Schumacher – 15/5:09.935
10.(8)Oliver Scholz (DE) – Team C – 15/5:14.112

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Video – 4wd Buggy A-main Leg 1

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THiJF6aFCUE[/youtube]